Mary Kay kinda day!

I received my order of Mary Kay today. Of which, 25% was donated to Camp Ronald McDonald including a few other orders placed with Chantal. She decided the best way to raise money for the Walk for Kids 2011 was to allow people to buy something for themselves and also feel good about donating to a good cause. So here is what I got:

This is Lavender Fog. I also purchased Moonstone (a cream color - not goldish like it kinda appears in this photo) and thought they'd both go well with the Sweet Plum (dark purple) I already had.

This Mary Kay compact is something I already had from a previous purchase. The left section is magnetic, perfect for putting together whatever color scheme you want that you use daily (or just that day, then switch them out!) and I really suggest it. Mary Kay makes blush or lip color in these little dishes that would fit under the length of these shadows and a small blush brush that would fit in the compartment on the right. However I have purchased an eyebrow kit (super teeny tiny) to put there for eyebrow touchups. The lip gloss shown is also a previous purchase called Goldrush.

I also bought this.

I wanted a lip color that had more staying power than lip gloss but wasn't dry like I find some lipsticks to be (granted, I don't really own lipstick, but whatever). This Mary Kay product is liquid lip color and is pretty much in between lip gloss (it's not glossy, but it's still liquid) and it's not dry and doesn't emphasize my dry, cracked lips.

It's a pale pink and I actually like it. I think it will go good with the few times I wear pink eyeshadow. I'm thinking of buying the next darker shade. :D

Another purchase I'm excited about is this roll up makeup bag.

It was like $30 but I'm sure it will clear up some shelf space and would be nice to put my bathroom stuff in and just carry the bag to the bathroom (because I do not keep my things in the shower with these roommates - if I don't trust my food in their fridge, I don't trust my cleaning products in their bathroom).

And here's a nice surprise:

Chantal also ordered some thank you gifts for a few of her customers. It's a super cute mini brush bag that came with these brushes:

Four pretty common brushes. This is pretty rad because this little bag coupled with the Mary Kay compact I have, I pretty much have everything I need in my purse to do my makeup. Wowzah.

Chantal & Nichole go to Solvang (and Little Tokyo)

The night before our vacation our company decided to let us know that most employees who make more than $10/hr will be getting a 5.5% pay cut that will be reflected in our March paycheck. So that was bummer news that caused me to drink a little more than I would have that night. I had some friends over and didn't end up going to sleep until probably 1am while I set my alarm for 6 am.

Usually when I drink I end up waking up early, but this time was a little ridiculous. 4:45am is when I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. So I got up and started packing in the dark so Stuart could continue to sleep. I even half assed-ly did my makeup with the low light of the rising sun behind the curtains.

Chantal came to pick me up, we stopped at Staters so I could get some orange juice and another beverage to hold me over for the 3 hour drive that included chits and chats and me playing my CD's for Chantal.

The first thing we did in Solvang was eat. We parked right in front of a damn sock shop and I was freaking out because socks are my weakness (a bond Kevin and I share) but I was able to tell myself there would be time for socks after sausage. We had a pretty yummy sausage and meatball lunch with red cabbage and mashed potatoes and gravy.

We stuffed ourselves and headed to the sock store where we spent like 20minutes and I bought one pair that was $13. :( Why do super cute socks have to be stupidly expensive? I also dropped a few bucks on these items:

Sweater (matching, Chantal has one too).

This is a purchase I was excited about because it's apparently a $60 sweater that was on sale and lowered even more because I did that 'text this number and get $5 off' deal and got this Izod sweater (big deal according to Chantal) for less than $6.

Shoes (that match the sweater, great $3.50 find)

That's Stuart's big foot. I took this the day after I came back from the trip.

Scented candle (no photo needed, boring candle)

Three inspiring key charms and a key ring holder thingy-ma-bob

After all the walking around and shopping we went to a small wine store and did some wine tasting. I had some sweet desert wines. Decided it was time to go to our hotel but made a stop at some plant/garden/accessories for Chantal (which she called her mom to tell her about the place they've never been to before). Then we made a stop at the emu/ostrich farm.

Oh that was fun. :D I think Chantal was still feeling her wine tasting because she was pretty giggly. We fed them with a big plastic bowl that was glued to a metal dustpan which we were told to hold tightly to the handle with both hands because, and sure enough, the emu would bite the bowl and try to take the whole thing away.

It was here that we chose to take our Facts Around the World photos that we hope will go in the newspaper. I like how our vacation was in Solvang but we take it at the emu farm. :P

So we both took turns feeding them and taking photos. I even stole some extra food from one of the feeders where there were no emus so we could keep feeding them.

I ended up buying some Ostrich jerky and a cute purple bow headband with what I'm assuming is an ostrich feather on it.

We then went to our hotel, checked in, found information on a close wine tasting vineyard, I looked up directions on my laptop and we set off on a 20min drive only to find out that we were too late. :( They close at 5 but the last wine tasting is at 4:45. DOH! We were like one minute too late.

So we went to dinner at the Anderson's Pea Soup restaurant (I ordered veal which I wasn't pleased with, it was quite bland) and then back to the room to drink some alcohol she brought from home and watch television in bed ... at like 8pm haha. I was pooped from lack of sleep.

At this time an amazingly funny thing happened. Chantal revealed to me, and herself, a 13-year blonde moment had be realized. A Kay Jewelers commercial came on and ended with their slogan jingle - 'every kiss begins with Kay.' Chantal said "I've been kissed plenty of times and I've never gotten jewelry!" I told her 'so kiss doesn't begin with K' and after a silent pause she had her 'aha' moment. Kiss DOES begin with the letter K and that's the play on words that the slogan is founded on! Hoorah! Everyone give Chantal a pat on the back. :D We laughed for a bit. Good times. It deserved a laugh.

So the next morning I felt so bloated and gross and I realized it was because I hadn't farted at all the day before because Chantal doesn't like natural bodily functions like that. I was burping the night before but that's because I had a bubbly Mike's Hard Lemonade. Hard not to burp. But I wanted to point out to her that I didn't poop in her presence. I pooped at the restaurant and didn't fart. And I was bloated with gas! Lordy.

We went back to Solvang for some Ableskevers and coffee and headed out on the road back.

We had planned to stop in Little Tokyo on the way back so I could let her experience something new. We had lunch at Shabu Shabu, a restaurant where they provide you with thinly cut slices of beef and some veggies and noodles and a bowl of boiling water where you cook the food yourself.

It was better than the first time I ate here because I was able to put some hot spices on my beef and that gave it some nice flavor. This place is always busy. We waited for about 45minutes to be seated.

We also went shopping in my favorite Little Tokyo store, not sure what it's called, but they have lots of cute little things and I picked up some stationary, panda cookies and ramune.

Before leaving we also got a pastry snack. The name I do no know but it is basically a red bean paste in the center of a fluffy pancake batter num-nums.

The only other time I've eaten this was at the Buddhist temple I went to a few years ago in CA and I loved it there too.

And that was the end of our adventurous trip!

BTW, Walmart doesn't have 1hr developing anymore and I'm sure no place does. I took my camera in to get it developed and it will take a whole week so I'll update this post with more photos when I get that back.

EDIT: Here's more photos!

Bars, bags and Sim addiction

Watching: History Channel (Nosradamus: 500 Years Later)

Firstly, I'd like to give a shout out to my peeps; Chantal, Joy, Kevin and Nigga Ray. On Saturday we did a Redlands bar crawl. Started out at Romano's (tried Dirty Bird but I could barely move there were so many people). Bethany was with us and Kevin's cousin Amir was also there. Started off great when a very short drunk woman began chatting with us, assumed Chantal and Amir were dating, Amir corrected her saying that they were engaged to marry in 2 months. I'm sure the conversation got better, but I missed the rest. We had some pizza and more drinks then made our way to the Falconer. Was there for... 15mins?

Moved on to Chucks Nuts for the gals to piss then on to The Underground (we ended up not making it to the Vault). They were having karaoke!!!!! Drank more, sang 'Hot Blooded' because I was pretty drunk and couldn't hold a real note for nothing. Good times.

On to something more current: today! I went to see Candy Glendening (of Candied Fabrics) to discuss the laptop/messenger bag I have commissioned her to do. It's going to cost almost $200 but I've reminded myself that not only is this a laptop bag that is cushioned to protect my laptop, but it has the ability to act like a purse and school bag at the same time. Also, we all know I love to wear/own thing that represent me and that I like to support handmade arts/crafts. One of the strongest convincers is that the quality of the material is great. It is a sturdy bag and it is going to be gorgeous and it is going to be me. And yet it's still a lot. I will get over it. Once I sent that first email letting Candy know that I was ready to have a bag made, I had committed to giving up my money.

On another note, I'm addicted to Sims3 (like I knew I would be). We know the story of me being upset by my aging Sim self and now I have another story to share.

I created a Sim Chantal. My goal with her was to find a rich man with a nice house, marry him, move in and have children. I moved her into the cheapest house and she began gardening in the backyard which eventually allowed her to quit her business job because 1. the bills are cheap 2. she can sell/eat what she grows 3. she has the ability to go out to eat for free at any time. So Sim Chanie found a guy, spent a lot of time with him and then one day I noticed it said he had a wife! He didn't have one before so during the time Parker and Chantal were considered in her relationship bar to be 'romantic interest,' Parker had gone off and gotten married to Holly! I was pretty pissed. (I finally went online to look up how to make a sim date/engage, so on to the next step). Parker came to Chantal's house, she romanced him until 'ask Parker to leave Holly' came up, his response was 'I guess you're right, it's not really working out for us.' Then they agreed to go steady. When Chantal proposed to Parker the next day, she was given the option to move. The default was for Parker to come live in her dinky place. Instead, I chose to move his parents out into Chantal's house, and move Chantal in with Parker (and 2 other people who already lived there). So yes, in only 2 days Sim Chantal ruined people's lives. HAHA! IRL Chantal says I made her a homewrecker... but whatever.

On a final note, I'm super excited to finally get a book from on of the Kickstarter projects I backed; The Word Project. Of course, photos will be posted when it arrives.

The Holidays - Pt I

Watching: Hoarders

Stuart was more excited than I was about me getting my gifts. It was so cute. So when I finally opened my gifts from him I could see why. He got me a large hookah that I named Loch Ness aka Nessy because it's green. I can buy a different color bowl later if I want. He also got me Sims 3 for my laptop. I've played the game for a few hours and our characters have only 'woohoo'd once. :( Sorry Stuart, there just isn't enough time in the Sim day!

I got Stuart a zombie book, a phone charger/holder for his car, I'm going to buy him some new clothes that aren't plain black t-shirt and black dickies and also the 1-year gym membership that we can start using in January when the place opens. I'm very excited about that one. I feel like I need help in getting him clothes, but I haven't tried to buy him anything yet, so we will see how that goes. One day we'll go shopping together and I'll get to play boyfriend-dress up. :D

Stuart wasn't able to go to the family Christmas Eve party because he had to work, but he didn't make it to his family party either. :( And it turns out that the Domino's he works out got robbed that night! He was in the store getting ready to step out the door with some deliveries and a man came in with a gun and asked for the money. Stuart says if he would have left 5 seconds sooner, he wouldn't be caught up in there and it took 15 seconds to be over. As horrible as it is to be in a robbery (I have no experience, so I'm assuming), I'm glad Stuart was there. It seems it was just him and one other girl in the store and she had no experience with being robbed. Him being there was good for her.

So at the Christmas Eve party with my family everyone was saying how great I look (I was wearing the new shirt I bought the day before and it definitely did look really good on me) and how much slimmer I look. That was a wonderful gift. It is a gift that can last longer than it took to say those words because I am really fueled to continue with my progress. Did I mention I got my hurr did?

I really can't believe how well I've done. I started at 175lbs when I started my gym class in July. It's the end of December and I've weighed in at 149lbs. I feel like I've gotten better eating habits. In the last few months I've had maybe 3 hamburgers. I stick to chicken. I've been eating a lot of soup and since I was counting calories for a few months, I know what items are lower calories at fast food places so I take that into account. Every time I go to Wendy's I get the grilled chicken sandwich that is less than 400cal.

So I was invited to Chantal's mother's house for Christmas morning but because I wasn't going to be able to go to Stuart's family Christmas Eve party, I had to cancel and go to Stuart's parents brunch. I really wanted to go to Chantal's because her mother and brother just sound so interesting, but I did want to give Stuart's parents their presents and I really like them and love feeling like I'm working on our relationship.

Tangent: Cuddling up with Stuart recently, I asked him if he would take care of me. He asked me why wouldn't I want to take care of myself. The next day I watched a comedian say that women only want someone to take care of them. So while I was a little hurt that Stuart's reply wasn't "I want to take care of you," I came to realize that Stuart doesn't see it from my angle. By 'take care of me' I don't mean that I want him to pay for everything and stay at home and do nothing. I want to work, I want to be accomplished but I can't help thinking about how nice it would be to living alone with Stuart, Stryker and a puppy in our own 2bdrm/1ba house, him taking me out to dinner on a whim, being married... it's just a girl thing! I think that's it. It just must be a woman thing to want to 'be taken care of.'

Christmas morning I enjoyed brunch with Stuart's parents and sold my old laptop to my brother Brandon. He apparently broke my mom's laptop so my previous quote of '$50, I'm just kidding' came to be a reality because it wasn't just for my brother. I found out later that my brother Andrew, who got a new laptop last Christmas, hasn't been using his because it's broken! If I was my mother I'd be pissed (and I'm sure she was pissed when she found out).

On the day after Christmas 'the group' (Chantal, Joy, Kevin) and I went to Chanie's house for our holiday meal. She made beef boul... stew, some goopy chocolate desert :P and I brought some broccoli casserole. We exchanged gifts. I got the necklace I had my eye on (and had told Chantal) and a purple flower clip from Chantal, I got some stickers from Joy AND an awesome Tom Petty tour shirt.

So there's those gifts and here's some stuff I got from other folks over the weekend: striped toe socks with a monkey on it, Forever 21 giftcard, $125, soaps/perfumes and a bracelet.

I'm really excited for New Year's Day. My friend Charlie is down from Vegas and he says he'll come to Brandin' Iron (I kinda think he's gunna flake) and Joy and her dancing friends will be there too. I have nothing planned for New Year Eve, but I kinda want to do something with Stuart since our anniversary is the next day and I won't really be spending it with him. It sounds weird but we really don't do anything on our anniversary. I think it has to do with the fact that we already spent so much on presents. We will see, now won't we?

Weekend full of voices, victors and a violated throat

Watching: Family Guy

Friday I went to karaoke at Taylor's in Redlands. I read reviews that mentioned it was a hole in the wall and to those people I'd like to say 'have you been to the Dirty Bird? Because you do NOT know what a hole in the wall is' haha. I sang 'Hot Blooded,' 'Love is a Battlefield,' and 'You Were Meant for Me.' Ray sang 'Papa Was a Rolling Stone.' I'd like to go back soon. They have karaoke Thurs/Fri/Sat.

At work, we're going to work on me getting out of work on Friday's by 6pm. Time will tell how these thing work out. I still haven't written my resume but I will get to it soon. I honestly think I deserve more money. I'm 25 and thinking about a house of my own and the plain truth is that I can't get that with this job, especially since raises have been frozen the last 2 years.

Saturday morning I went to a Chili cook off with Chantal. It was a nice few hours and I found out Chantal is more of a pussy when it comes to hot food than I thought. Her eyes were watering over some of the chili and they were honestly not hot, just full of spices. However she did remind me that she ate ALL of it despite that her throat was on fire and I give her props on that. Here are some photos:




Went to Medieval Times Sunday for Stuart's bday. Happy birthday Stuart! His birthday was actually Monday, June 14 but he worked that day so there.


HIGHLIGHTS:
1. During the knight games they have to throw a joust at a target and one of the knights got the ... joust stick? stuck in the target and the guy pulling it out seriously was tugging on it for like a minute.
2. Our knight, the Blue knight, was a bad ass. He didn't win overall, but he won one fight and he fought dirty. I totally called the point when he kicked another knight in the nuts.
3. The middle of the show there are announcements. "Barbara is celebrating her divorce. Barbara, wherever you are, meet me at the bar after the show. *pause* Yeah, that's just how I roll." Also "Tom is celebrating his first time *looonnggg pause and a lot of laughter* Here. His first time here." We sat front row and got birthday cake. Also, the chicken dinner we had was called a baby dragon. :P


Notice Stuart's time period shoes :P He requested this pose.



Monday for lunch (today) we went to his parents house and ate some lobster tail, artichoke, shrimp, all sorts of yummy and topped off with a game of dominoes and strawberry shortcake type of desert. And now, Monday night, I shall be attempting to make creamy tomato-basil pasta with shrimp for dinner.